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The work of Chen Fei (b. Shanxi, China, 1983; lives and works in Beijing)
is part of a new trend in contemporary Chinese art that represents a clear
thematic as well as aesthetic departure from the avant-garde art of the 1980s
and 1990s. His pictures evince the unconscious influence of the many
movies
he has seen since he was a child-masterworks and cult classics
as well as B movies. He actually enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy; a series
of paintings shows 202 villains, with their characteristic costumes and
accessories,
from 197 movies ranging from "Clockwork Orange" to "Ichi
the Killer," from "The Shining" to "Kill Bill," from "Hard Candy" to "Bride of
Chucky." The same morbid sense of humor is evident in Chen´s more recent
paintings. His brush transmutes scenes of human anatomy or death into
harmless jokes. What truly impresses him, Chen Fei says, are the rogues, not
the upstanding citizens, and the same goes for painting: beauty and good
health leave him bored.

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